Hi all,
does anybody know which certification authority can give an ISO/IEC 20000 certificate?
In what this certification consist?
Is it only for entire IT organizations or for single IT departments, too?

There is a list of Registered Certification bodies for BS15000, which would continue to provide certification for ISO20000. These RCBs have to be registered with itSMF in addition to the accreditation with UKAS or any other national accreditation body.

The certification is an indicative of your compliance to Service management practices as listed by BS15000/ISO 20000.

The scoping for the purpose of certification is the first thing to be done while any organization is preparing for the certification. Any IT organization capable of demonstrating IT service management practices (in all the areas of BS15000/ISO 20000) can be certified for this certification. Even if the IT organization is not performing some of the areas as suggested in BS15000/ISO 20000, if the IT organization is capable of showing sufficient controls, it should suffice for the certification.

Yes, Arnoldmram is absolutely correct in that this channels through to certification bodies through UKAS and the other national bodies. I don't think itSMF are involved though now that the standard has become international.

Firstly, a quick introduction, I helped to set up the itSMF certification scheme by which organisations can achieve certification against formerly BS 15000 and now ISO/IEC 20000.

The itSMF are still very actively involved in the running of the certification scheme against the new standard. They accredit course providers (such as ourselves) and also continue to accredit RCBs, this has not been handed over to UKAS and the other national bodies, this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.

With regards to ISO/IEC 20000 certification you need to understand like any service improvement programme the following summary points :

1. why are you looking for certification
2. work with an RCB to confirm scoping and eligbility for certification
3. understand your current capability against the standard
4. articulate the benefits, costs and timescales
5. ensure the organisation knows what it is getting in to (awareness)
6. address any gaps
7. check that your organisation is keeping conformant to the standard
8. ensure you have evidence to hand and book your certification audit

There needs to be a strong emphasis on institutionalising changes within the organisation, therefore, if you use consultants, the traditional consultancy approach won't work, i.e. you need to ensure that there is good skills transfer understanding the requirements of the standard, they are not that straight forward and interpretation of evidence is required.

If I can help with any further information then please feel free to contact me.